To many people a
meek person has no "backbone". To them a meek person let's everybody
run roughshod over them and stands up for nothing.

That, my friends,
IS NOT what Jesus was referring to when he said, Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Jesus was meek,
but certainly no pushover. Matthew 11:28-30, 21:5

The word meek
means to be "gentle".

According to John
MacArthur, "Meekness is a gentleness and a
mildness, and a subdued character, but it is no weakness. It is power under
control." John MacArthur, Kingdom
Living Here and Now( Chicago, Illinois: Moody
Press, 1980), p. 78

In Jesus' day the
word "meek" was used to describe, a gentle breeze, a pleasant
medicine or a colt that had been broken.

Warren Wiersbe, Live Like a King (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1976), p. 64-65

A meek person can
be very powerful, but very much in control.

A meek person is
capable of anger.

Jesus got angry at
the right things at the right times.

Jesus got angry
with hypocrisy.

Jesus got angry
with dishonest people who bought and sold in the temple. Matthew 21:13

First, we must
realize that meekness is part of the Fruit of the Spirit.As we allow God's Holy Spirit to control us,
we are allowing God to perfect the fruit of meekness. Galatians 5:22-23

It would also be
nice if there was a passage of Scripture that would give us an idea of how to
develop meekness in our lives.

Good news! There
is!

When the Lord
Jesus talks about meekness, He is alluding to

Psalm 37:11 - But the meek shall inherit the earth; and
shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

Most of the
Beatitudes were original.

However this
beatitude was adapted from the verse that we just read. In the verses before
Psalm 37:11, God shows us the qualities of a meek or gentle man or woman.

The verbs, the
action words, are the key to developing a meek spirit.I suggest that you underline some of these as
we speak.

I'll suggest which
ones to underline.

FRET NOT - Vss.
1-2

Those words mean
"don't get heated up".Don't
get hot. Or as we may say, "be cool". James Montgomery Boice, Psalms,
An Expositional Commentary (Grand Rapids, Baker,
1994), p. 41

Getting agitated
is what keeps us from being meek or gentle.

And evil people
can get us agitated, especially when they do things against us or those we
love.

According to vs.
2, wicked people will quickly meet their end.

But it's not only
wicked people who get us worked up and out of sorts.

People who are not evil get us worked up
and out of sorts, when we shouldn't allow them to do so.Proverbs 3:30, 20:3

Other things that cause us to get
agitated, or hot, both on the inside and the outside are fear and worry. Isaiah
41:10, Matthew 6:25

TRUST AND DO - Vs. 3

We fret because we do not trust the
right person.

The one we should trust is the Lord!

It begins with salvation.Eternal life is a result of faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ who died for our sins, was buried, and rose again. Romans 10:13

And if we can trust the Lord Jesus with
our very lives, can't we also trust him with the things that cause us to fret?

Not only are we to trust, according to
verse 3, but we are to do good

Because I trust Him to take care of me, I
can do what is good, and therefore do what is right.

One good thing that I should do is not
fret.

I don't have to fret because I can trust
that the Lord is taking care of things.

Sometimes we fail to do what is good
because we are afraid of criticism.We
are afraid of getting lambasted for doing what is right.

When we trust the Lord for the strength
and the help, we can do what's right no matter what the consequences. 1 Peter
3:13-14

DELIGHT - Vs. 4

Do you know something about many of the
hunters I've met?

They delight in hunting.

They think about hunting.

They talk about hunting.

They study hunting.

They spend money on hunting.

They take time to hunt and to
participate in hunting related activities.

We Christians are told to delight in the
Lord.

We should delight in the Lord because He
is creator.

We should delight in the Lord because He
is our God.

We should delight in the Lord because He
is our Savior.

We should delight in the Lord because we
are His children.

We should delight in the Lord because we
are citizens of Heaven.

We Christians should learn something
from hunters.

They think about hunting, we should
think about the Lord.

They talk about hunting,
we should talk about the Lord and to the Lord.

They study hunting, we should study God's Word.

They spend money
on hunting. We should spend money on the Lord's work.

They take time to
hunt and to participate in hunting related activities.We should take time with the Lord and in
activities, such as church and Bible studies, that are related to the Lord.

According to this
verse, when we delight in the Lord, we will receive the desires of our
heart.When we have the desires of our
heart, we will have every reason to be meek.We won't have anything to get hot about.

Now for some truth in advertising.If you delight yourself in the Lord, the
desires of your heart will change.The
things that you want will please God.And because the things that you want will please God, He will give them
to you.

COMMIT - Vs. 5

Instead of
fretting we should be praying.

Instead of getting
bent out of shape, we should be discussing the problem with God.

We tend to get
upset and then pray.

Instead we should
pray, and we will more unlikely to get upset. 1 Peter 5:7

REST AND WAIT - Vs. 7

Rest here does not
mean to stop working. It is to "be still".

To me it means to
simply relax in the understanding that God is in control and taking care of the
problem.

I am not agitated.

I am not upset.

I am not hot.

I am not ready to
bite someone's head off.

I am simply at
mental ease, gentle, waiting on God to work in His good time.

And there are two
last words to underline.

CEASE AND
FORSAKE - Vs. 8

Anger is to be
avoided.

Any wrath is to be
forsaken.

You know what happens
when an open bottle tips over.

When an open
bottle tips over, out comes the contents.

When you are
tipped over by circumstances or problems, what's inside you will come out as well.